Kade Varner threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Crescent Tigers (8-1) to a 28-21 win against Highway 74 rival Cashion last Thursday, securing the district title.
The Tigers will host Dibble (5-5) on Friday night.
Cashion (4-6) also qualified for the playoffs, but the two-time defending state champion has to travel to No. 1 and 2021 runner-up Ringling (100) in the first round.
The game in Cashion was Senior Night for the Wildcats, but the Tigers wanted to avoid that trip to Ringling this week.
CJ Wilson recorded the game’s first score on a 25-yard pass play from Varner with 5:05 left in the first half. Varner kicked the PAT and it was 7-0.
Cashion stormed back to take a 14-7 lead, including a touchdown 9 seconds before the half.
In the third quarter, Varner hooked up with Tanner Rice on a 36-yard pass play to tie it before Cashion regained the lead, 21-14, with 1:37 to go in the quarter.
But the Tigers ruled the fourth quarter as Rice scored on a 2-yard run and Wilson caught his second touchdown of the night, a 21-yard play, to seal it.
Varner was 16-for-24 in the passing game and ran the ball 12 times for 25 yards. Wilson had six catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, plus 18 carries on the ground for 49 yards.
Rice ran the ball 10 times for 76 yards and caught five passes for 80 yards. Chism Watson had three catches for 31 yards and Luke Descher had four carries for 29 yards to help the offense.
Defensively, Rice led the way with six tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss. Boston Cox and Isaiah Lovett chipped in with four tackles each.
The Wildcats led in possession by 8 minutes and tried to rely on its passing game, which accounted for 322 yards.